The present invention relates to an image recording material and a transfer foil which are suitably applied to a contact- or non-contact type electronic or magnetic card, sheet, and the like, which store personal information and the like for which security is demanded to prevent forgery, altetration and the like.
In recent years, contact- or non-contact-type electronic or magnetic cards, and the like, have increasingly been issued in the field of service industry such as banks, business organizations, educational institutions, public agencies, and the like. Personal information such as a portrait, a name, and the like, is recorded on image recording bodies such as cash cards, employee cards, company membership cards, membership cards, student cards, aliens registration cards, various types of license cards, and the like, which are employed in various fields. Accordingly, these cards are subjected to security treatment so that forgery as well as altetration is not readily carried out.
For example, a hologram layer is provided onto a card substrate and a special image is formed so that a portrait, a name, issue date, and the like are not readily imitated. Said image is generally called a diffraction grating image or a hologram image. Said hologram image is formed employing interference infringes obtained by overlapping waves which are reflected from a body or transmitted through a body with the reference waves. By employing said hologram image, the image of the body is stereoscopically reproduced. The surface of the hologram layer is covered with a protective sheet having high light transmission. Employed as said protective sheet are transparent resins and the like which are employed for lamination, and the hologram layer, which exhibits less strength than the card substrate, is covered with the protective sheet and thereby protected.
However, according to the method for producing cards using the conventional system, for instance, a laminate film and a hologram sheet are separately formed, and after passing through a laminating process, the extra laminate film is trimmed. Specifically for photo-bearing company membership cards, driver""s license cards, and the like, in order to ensure positive identification with a flawless image, it is necessary that during the production process, the formation of scratches as well as wrinkling on the surface of the card is minimized, and further, that while cutting the film into a card shape, the generation of fins in the projected area which sticks out to the edges is prevented.
The present invention has overcome the aforementioned problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a transfer foil and an image recording material which enhance security by discouraging forgery, alteration, and the like, and which exhibit improved scratch resistance, are capable of minimizing the formation of scratches as well as winkling, and are capable of decreasing the formation of fins, and a method for preparing said image recording material.
In order to overcome the aforementioned problems and to achieve the object, the present invention is embodied as described below.
A transfer foil comprising a support, a releasing layer and a component layer wherein the releasing layer contains inorganic or organic fine particles and
1 less than (average particle diameter of the inorganic or organic fine particle in releasing layer/thickness of releasing layer)xc3x97100 less than 400.
The inorganic or organic fine particles preferably comprise a heat cross linking group or a light cross linking group.
In the transfer foil an average particle diameter of the inorganic or organic fine particles is preferably 0.01 to 10 xcexcm
In the transfer foil the heat cross linking group or the light cross linking group preferably comprises at least a vinyl group, an acryloyl group, a methacryloyl group, a glycidyl group, an isocyanate group, or a carboxyl group.
In the transfer foil the component layer preferably includes at least one of adhesion layer, a transparent protective layer and an optical variable device layer.
An image recording material having a component layer transferred from a transfer foil to a support for image recording material comprising a support for an image recording material, an image receiving layer forming an image, a releasing layer and a component layer, wherein the releasing layer contains inorganic or organic fine particles and
1 less than (average particle diameter of the inorganic or organic fine particle in releasing layer/thickness of releasing layer)xc3x97100 less than 400.
A method of forming an image recording material comprising steps of
recording an image on the image receiving layer provided on a support for forming an image recording material,
transferring a component layer of a transfer foil onto an image receiving layer having a recorded image, wherein the transfer foil comprises a releasing layer, the releasing layer contains inorganic or organic fine particles and
1 less than (average particle diameter of the inorganic or organic fine particle in releasing layer/thickness of releasing layer)xc3x97100 less than 400.